Apartments and hotel could be on the way to Hudson River Park’s Pier 40

Hudson River Park supporters are becoming more amenable to the possibility of big development on Pier 40, south of Houston Street, as the park’s financial situation becomes increasingly dire. According to Crain’s, the Hudson River Park Trust is considering allowing 800 apartments and a 150-room hotel on the crumbling pier, in an effort to raise money to maintain the five-mile long park.

The community has previously rejected two proposals to develop the pier, but with $118 million needed just to make repairs to the 15-acre Pier 40, and another $200 million to complete construction on Hudson River Park as planned, former opponents are getting desperate. They saw Pier 54 shut down last month because it was in danger of collapsing due to a lack of repair funds.

In the meantime, Friends of Hudson River Park, an organization created to lobby for more public money for the site, has turned to private sources for fundraising. Hudson River Park Trust CEO Madelyn Wils is simultaneously hoping to change the development laws on the park to allow for new sources of revenue.

The proposed development would generate between $9 million and $20 million a year while allowing the park and ball fields to remain in place. The 1.1 million-square-foot mixed-used development would rise where a 775,000 warehouse that houses sports facilities and offices currently sits. [Crain’s]